


The Distance

by AnnieNadir



Category: Schooled (TV 2019)
Genre: Alcohol, Cake (band), F/M, Recreational Drug Use, Songfic, Twinkies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:08:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24155623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieNadir/pseuds/AnnieNadir
Summary: Waiting for a call from her increasingly absent, long distance boyfriend, Lainey listens to Cake and gets up to drunken hi(gh)jinks with CB.
Relationships: Lainey Lewis/Charlie "C.B." Brown
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	The Distance

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this one intermittently since before Singled Out. It started with two head canons: first, that CB would be into Cake, and second, that Lainey would smoke. It spiraled from there and became one of the strangest and most self-indulgent fics I've written. Thanks for bearing with me on this one.

_She's hoping in time that her memories will fade_   
_'Cause he's racing and pacing and plotting the course_   
_He's fighting and biting and riding on his horse_   
_The sun has gone down and the moon has come up_   
_And long ago somebody left with the cup_   
_But he's striving and driving and hugging the turns_   
_And thinking of someone for whom he still burns_

  
_'Cause he's going the distance_   
_He's going for speed_   
_She's all alone (all alone)_   
_All alone in her time of need_

(The Distance, Cake)

“Oh!” CB leaned forward with excitement. No one knew how he could move so abruptly and not spill coffee on his beloved ties. “Lainey, you should do Cake with your students! The trumpet parts are really cool and challenging!”

“Cake? Like the food?” Glasscott inquired from across the teacher’s lounge.

“No, it’s this nerdy band CB likes,” Lainey explained.

“Hey!”

“Dude, they belong to a genre that’s literally called geek rock,” Lainey said, turning her attention back on CB.

“Just listen to them. They’re awesome; you’ll love it,” CB insisted. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Well, I’m expecting a call from Barry later,” Lainey chewed her lip, considering. “but in the meantime I’m free.”

God, what did she just get herself into?

“Great,” CB smiled triumphantly. “We can listen today after school. I have the CD’s.”

“How do you afford so many CD’s on a teachers salary? Those things are expensive.”

“You buy at least twice as many as me. How do you afford it?”

Lainey didn’t seem to appreciate the question. Her eyes flicked to Glascott on the other side of the lounge, implying that her methods were less than legal.

“I may have an in at the record store,” Lainey said softly. She gave CB a look that said she did not care to elaborate.

Glasscott glanced over at them.

“Hi, John,” Lainey’s voice was aggressively friendly. “Anything we can help you with?”

“Well, this is getting weird. I’m going to class.” CB turned to leave.

Lainey picked up her mug and hurried after him.

“I’ll walk with you.”

CB picked up a bottle of wine on his way home. He and Lainey both had a late Friday. He was after school with the poetry club; she had afterschool band practice. They’d both eaten earlier. CB thought they both deserved a treat after a long week.

So he set up the music in the CD player and poured two glasses of wine, leaving the bottle between them. He lowered the lights to give them a relaxed listening ambiance. Too romantic. He turned the lights back on. He and Lainey were just friends. She was expecting a call from Barry, her boyfriend, later. At which point she’d spend the entire remainder of the evening with Barry. Their tentative plans would be forgotten. It’s not as though she hadn’t told him that beforehand. They were just friends.

He couldn’t believe he’d beaten Lainey home. He sat awkwardly on the couch on which he’d been crashing for the time being.

Lainey rushed in quickly, taking off her shoes and coat. She set her trumpet case down by the door.

“Sorry it took me so long to get home. Had to coordinate rides home for my band kids. Is it set up?”

“Yeah, come sit.” CB patted the spot next to him.

Lainey walked in and sat down next to him.

“Wine, nice!” Lainey took half a sip and stood up again. “Wait, I have something that will make this even better.”

She darted off in the direction of her bedroom before CB could say another word. What could she possibly be talking about? It was too complicated and exciting to even contemplate.

A few seconds later Lainey ran down the stars. In her hands was a vintage She-Ra: Princess of Power lunchbox. She set it on the table.

“Are we finally going to have a dialogue about the She-Ra/He-Man universe?” CB voice was rising with excitement.

“What? No.” Lainey shot him a confused glance.

“Then when?”

Lainey waved a hand at him.

“Different day.”

It wasn’t a never. One day he would get Lainey to geek out with him.

She carefully opened the box, revealing, amongst other paraphernalia, a perfectly rolled joint, not that CB would know the difference.

CB leapt back, horrified.

“What the fuck, Lainey?” His voice was a lot louder than she’d have liked considering they were not in a situation she wanted to draw attention to by getting a noise complaint from her neighbors.

“Chill out, man,” she hissed.

“It’s illegal,” CB then whispered back at her. “I can’t believe you have that!”

“Did you really think the cool music teacher with a bad girl past had never smoked before?”

CB didn’t have much to say to that. He hadn’t considered it. Now that he did, it really wasn’t surprising, but he’d never known that about Lainey. And he didn’t know he was currently living with illegal drugs in the house. This could be some kind of drug den for all he knew. Okay, maybe that was a bit over the top.

“I can’t smoke that.” He couldn’t believe the were having this discussion. “How can I warn kids about the dangers of marijuana while being a hypocritical pothead?”

“It’s easy. I can show you,” Lainey half-joked. “But, really, it’s less dangerous than your wine.”

“I doubt that.”

“You can’t kill yourself by overdosing on weed. Alcohol poisoning, however...”

She had a point there. Even CB couldn’t deny it.

“I’m still not smoking it,” CB declared firmly. He was a man of principle.

“Fine.” Lainey sighed and rolled her eyes. “More for me.”

She lit it there on the couch.

“You’re doing that in here?!” CB couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Well, I can’t very well do it outside where the neighbors could see.”

CB couldn’t argue that point either. He fidgeted uncomfortably.

“You could get arrested.”

“You need to calm down,” she replied, unperturbed. “This would really help with that.” She held the joint out to him.

“I’m... going to go turn the music on now.”

He crossed the room to turn on the CD player.

“It would sound better if you smoked first,” Lainey chimed in.

“I know better to succumb to peer pressure.”

CB’s resolve was crumbling, and Lainey knew it. She just had to wait it out. Its didn’t take long. When he sat back down next to her, as the room filled with smoke, the fight had gone out of him. He hadn’t even turned on the music yet.

“Fine...”

Lainey eagerly handed him the joint.

“Now we’re talking.”

CB looked down at it with incredulity. He never thought the day would take him here.

“So... how does it work?”

Lainey stared at him, mouth agape.

“You smoke it like a cigarette,” she explained. She couldn’t believe that she had to spell it out for him.

“I don’t smoke cigarettes.”

“Oh my god, CB, you’ve never seen someone smoke a cigarette?” Even a few hits in Lainey was growing agitated. “Just put your mouth on it and suck.”

CB sputtered nervously at her choice of words. He hadn’t even inhaled any smoke yet. Lainey continued staring him like he was stupid.

“Do it before it burns out,” she warned.

Hesitantly, he put his mouth over the joint and took a hit. He let the smoke out abruptly, unable to stop himself from entering a fit of coughing. Pain hit him deep him his chest. He’d never had heartburn like this before. And he couldn’t stop coughing. Lainey held his wine out to him. He looked at her like she was insane.

Lainey sighed and walked to the kitchen to pour CB a glass of water.

Finally he regained his ability to speak.

“Did you know that would happen?” He called to her from the couch.

“It happens to most people the first time they try it.”

So yes.

“Why didn’t you warn me?”

“Would you have still done it?”

Damn, he couldn’t win with her tonight.

He passed the joint back to Lainey who handed him a glass of water in return. Lainey ashed into a jar from the She-Ra lunch box. CB didn’t know if he could ever look at the Princess of Power the same again.  
Lainey took a big hit and went to hit play on the CD player. She then took her seat next to CB; they were finally listening to Cake. Lainey grabbed her glass and held it out.

“Cheers?”

CB took his wine glass and clinked it to hers.

“Cheers.”

Lainey gave CB an earnest smile that warmed his heart. They both took drinks from their glasses. Lainey offered CB the joint again.

“What the hell?” CB asked, this time in acceptance. “It does make the music more enjoyable.”

“I told you,” Lainey said, swatting his arm.

CB was still wracked with fits of coughing, but this time they didn’t last so long. And he had his water to sip. And his wine.

Then the second track on the album started: The Distance.

“It’s about a race, but it’s really a metaphor for a relationship,” CB explained gesturing emphatically. “It’s genius.”

“Okay, you were right. This is fucking awesome,” Lainey agreed. She even sped over to restart the track when it ended.

“It reminds me of Barry,” she confessed.

“You’re worried about his call?”

“Yeah, he hasn’t been keeping in touch very well lately.” Lainey laughed bitterly. “Staying in waiting for my boyfriend to call. What a way to spend a Friday night.”

She drained her glass and began pouring herself another, topping off CB’s glass in the process.

“I’d frame it as...” CB paused, searching for the words through a marijuana induced haze. “spending a Friday night with your best friend listening to new music.”  
Lainey rested a hand on his forearm.

“You always know how to cheer me up.”

Did she know the effect her words had on him? He all but melted at the sentiment.

“...even if you’re a huge lightweight,” Lainey said. Lightening the emotionally weighted moment.

CB took the hint and raised his wine glass to his lips. Lainey took a final hit on the joint, which was getting really harsh, and dropped it into the jar.

“Heeyyy, I know this one!” Lainey slurred excitedly when they got to track 7: I Will Survive. “This is a Gloria Gaynor song!”

CB couldn’t repress a smile at her excitement. Like, he literally couldn’t, his facial muscles were operating of their own accord now apparently.

“I will surviiiiiive,” Lainey sang along. “As long as I know how to love I know I’ll be alright.”

“Who’s the nerd now?”

Lainey tossed a pillow at him.

“Still you, dummy.”

“Lainey, dance with me.”

He moved around the coffee table to stand on the other side of the living room. His hand was held out to her in invitation. Lainey accepted, her movements a bit wobbly as she moved around the table. She was a little ahead of CB where drinks were concerned.

CB took Lainey’s hand and yanked her to him. She gasped a little at the unexpected motion.

CB placed his other hand on the small of her back.

“Is this okay?”

“Yeah,” her voice was breathier than she’d have liked. “yeah, this is good.”

CB began swaying them with the trumpet intro to the ninth track on the album. For all of his usual awkward, dad-like dance moves, it was easy to forget what a skilled dancer CB was. The movements were sloppy and drunken, but he was leading them in what was unmistakably a tango.  
With their bodies pressed flush against each other, Lainey was finding it increasingly hard to draw a full breath. Their proximity was affecting her more than being under the influence. She hoped CB attributed the blush spreading across her cheeks to the booze. It intensified as he began to serenade her with the lyrics.

“If you don’t make your mind up, we’ll never get started. And I don’t want to wind up being parted, broken-hearted.”

As for CB, he couldn’t believe he was holding her like this. He had his Lainey in his arms. He never wanted it to end. But the moment was bittersweet, he had her, but she wasn’t his. The contact was intoxicating, and on top of his inebriated state, he was afraid he’d blurt out that he loved her and ruin the moment. Instead, he clung to the lyrics. They were fitting enough anyway.

“So if you really love me, say yes. But if you don’t, dear, confess. And please don’t tell me, ‘perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.’”

Lainey couldn’t help but feel the weight behind the words. She didn’t trust her self to look into CB’s eyes, afraid of what she might do, so she nestled her head in his shoulder.

Lainey resting her head on his shoulder tugged at CB’s heartstrings. The action was so intimate and trusting.

When they finished the dance and made their way back to the couch, both were a little lightheaded and out of breath.

“Are you as hungry as I am?” CB couldn’t believe how starved he felt after a full dinner just a few hours prior.

“Someone’s got the munchies,” Lainey teased. “...and yes.” She started for the kitchen. “Hold on, I think I’ve got some snacks somewhere.”

Lainey riffled through her cabinets before finally-

“YES!”

She couldn’t hide her stoned elation. She’d found it: a box of Twinkies from the back of her pantry cabinet.

Lainey ran back out to the living room. Without hesitation, she flung a Twinkie package at CB.

“CB, catch!”

He didn’t. The Twinkie hit a startled CB square in the face.

“Why’d you think that would be a good idea?” He asked, retrieving his snack cake from the floor.

“’Cause it was,” Lainey laughed. “You should’ve seen your face”

She scrunched up her own in an attempt to mimic it. CB couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Lainey took a seat next to CB and popped open her package, and for an instant CB was paralyzed: how was he going to handle Lainey eating such a potentially suggestive dessert in front of him? And they were both drunk. And high.  
CB needn’t have worried. His fears were abated when Lainey frantically shoved the entire Twinkie in her mouth and struggled to chew it all at once.

“I though’ you sai’ you’re hungry,” she managed through a mouthful.

CB remembered with intensity just how hungry he was. He fumbled to removed the packaging and took a bite.

“Oh my god,” CB drew out the words. “These are so much better than I remembered.”

“The weed’ll do that,” Lainey explained.

She offered him another Twinkie.

CB chuckled to himself.

“Cake and cake,” he mused aloud.

It shouldn’t have been so funny, but both of them dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Eventually the CD player began to loop through the disc a second time. Soon enough they were back to The Distance.

Barry still hadn’t called.

Disheartened, Lainey walked over to the CD player.

“I’m going to change the disk.”

She laughed when she picked up the case.

“This album is actually called Fashion Nugget?” She looked at CB teasingly.

“Awesome, right?”

Lainey laughed and shook her head.

She replaced the disk and pulled out the other album CB brought.

“Prolonging the Magic, huh? Well, the title is a little better, and I like the cute little pig on the front.”

She put in the disk.

By the end of the second song, CB had fallen into a drunken sadness, whispering the lyrics under his breath.

I was bright,  
But she was much brighter,  
I was high,  
But she was the sky,

Oh, Baby, I was bound,  
For Mexico,  
Oh, Baby, I was bound,  
To let you go

Lainey wondered if CB was upset about someone. She wondered if he was singing it to her.

By the time the third track, a plea to a long distance lover who was “never there,” ended without a call from Barry, Lainey had had it.

“That’s it. I’m rolling another joint.”

She opened her She-Ra lunch box and set to work as CB looked on. Lainey could already tell this one wouldn’t be perfect like the last one, her fingers just couldn’t work with such dexterous precision after all the alcohol she’d consumed that evening, but that didn’t matter.

“When’d you learn to do that?” CB asked as Lainey began grinding the flower.

“High school.”

CB raised his eyebrows.

“Did you smoke with Barry?”

“Oh, god, no,” Lainey scoffed. “Barry doesn’t smoke, and he doesn’t know that I do. You’re a member of the JTP; why do you think he rags on Matt Bradley so much?”

“Because he’s jealous of Matt Bradley’s effortless good looks and cool, laid back personality?”

They shared a laugh at that.

“Thanks for hanging out with me tonight,” Lainey looked over at CB, grateful not to have to wait up for Barry alone, driving her self mad.

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be,” CB replied genuinely.

The moment became charged, and Lainey snapped her head away, refocusing on rolling the joint.

Soon the third track was playing again. They finished the joint, and another bottle of wine with it.

Barry still hadn’t called.

It was after midnight.

Lainey had migrated from her spot on the couch next to CB to a spot on the floor next to the CD player.

She hit replay. Again. And Again. And Again.  
And then she stood.

“I’ve got the best idea!” Lainey slurred.

She staggered across the house and returned with her trumpet.

Pulling out her mobile phone, she dialed Barry’s number. She turned up the volume, making sure she was at the beginning of the track when she called. Voicemail: just as she suspected. She set her phone down to better play her trumpet.  
By the time the message tone beeped, the song was a few verses in.

“On the phone,  
Long long distance,  
Always through such,  
Strong resistance,

When first you say,  
You're too busy,  
I wonder if you,  
Even miss me,”

Lainey sang into the phone, her voice cracking. CB would’ve sang along, but this wasn’t really any of his business, so he, with some difficulty, restrained himself. Even as messed up as he was, he felt like he was intruding. But mostly he felt concerned for Lainey.

“You tell me that you love me so, you tell me that you care, but when I need you, BARRY,” She substituted his name for “baby,” yelling over the speakers. “YOU’RE NEVER THERE!”

At this point in the song, Lainey was clearly having fun. CB could tell this was cathartic for her, not that he could articulate that at the moment. He got up to dance. After all, Barry wouldn’t be able to see him through the phone.

And then, after she’d run through all the lyrics, Lainey began to attempt the trumpet part, one which would’ve been difficult to play even if she were sober. Drunk, it was impossible, but that didn’t stop her from trying.

At the end of the song Lainey ended the call and turned down the CD player. She set her trumpet aside where she hoped neither of them would trip on it.

CB suddenly looked at her, horrified, as if he’d had some revelation.

“Wait...” he said. “The neighbors!”

“At this point I don’t care,” Lainey replied.

They looked at each other a moment longer before collapsing on the floor in a heap of giggles.

Lainey woke up the next morning on the couch, cuddled with CB, who was still asleep. Her answering machine showed one new message.

Lainey got up and played it.

“LAINEY, IT’S BARRY,” his voice rang through the living room. Lainey was surprised it didn’t wake CB.

“Anyway, I was just calling to thank you for the sweet serenade, my Lainey-love. Love you. Big Tasty OUT!”

He had completely missed the point.

Lainey looked over at CB. At least last night had turned out to be pretty fun after all.


End file.
